DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.31382#0011
The History and Characteristics of the Coiiection
The present volume - a chronological continuation of the two preced-
ing issues - presents the collection of paintings created in their majority in the
2^ half of the 20^ century and gathered in the Department of Modern Polish
Painting and Sculpture of the National Museum in Cracow. At the moment of
closing the catalogue, this set included 1,678 pictures.
In few cases the reader will find here the works by painters whose
significant creative activity filled the inter-war period. The reason is that the
majority of works executed by them and now owned by the Museum date from
the after-war times (these are, a. o., Jan Cybis, Marian Kratochwil, Emil Krcha).
The beginning of the collection of contemporary art after World War II
is related to the take-over of the National Museum by the Ministry of Culture and
Art in 1949. It considerably improved the financial capacity of our institution,
allowing it to launch the documentation of the achievements of currently practiced
plastic arts. The Museum's budget, financed by the Ministry, was large enough
to make purchases both directly from the artists and on the then quite limited
market of contemporary art. In the 1950s and 1960s direct purchases from the
authors predominated, whereas in the 1970s the purchases often took place in
the State Firm of Works of Art and Antiquities (DESA), existent in Cracow since
1950. In this way sets of works by, a. o., Adam Marczynski, Maciej Makarewicz
and Jonasz Stern could make their way into the Museum. A significant source of
the acquisition of novelties in the 1980s was the Interart Fair in Poznan, where
between 1985 and 1988 the Museum bought sets of works of, a. o., Andrzej
Bielawski, Wiesiaw Obrzydowski, Jacek Sempolinski, Jacek Sienicki and Lech
Okolow. In the 1980s infrequent purchases took place also in private galleries
(including paintings of Alfred Lenica at Alicja and Bozena Wahl's Art Gallery in
Warsaw and works of Krystyna Herling-Grudzinska at the Gallery "Inny Swiat
in Cracow).
At the close of the 1980s a far-reaching break in the purchases oc-
curred, caused by drastic cuts in budget means allotted to this end and by the
increase of prices of contemporary artistic works on a newborn free market. In
the 1990s and at the onset of the 21^ century only single purchases from artists
or in private galleries took place - a. o. works by members of the Group Eadnie
were bought at the Gallery 'Zderzak , whereas The Poznan Execution by Andrzej
Wroblewski came to the Museum owing to the Buchner Foundation.
The present volume - a chronological continuation of the two preced-
ing issues - presents the collection of paintings created in their majority in the
2^ half of the 20^ century and gathered in the Department of Modern Polish
Painting and Sculpture of the National Museum in Cracow. At the moment of
closing the catalogue, this set included 1,678 pictures.
In few cases the reader will find here the works by painters whose
significant creative activity filled the inter-war period. The reason is that the
majority of works executed by them and now owned by the Museum date from
the after-war times (these are, a. o., Jan Cybis, Marian Kratochwil, Emil Krcha).
The beginning of the collection of contemporary art after World War II
is related to the take-over of the National Museum by the Ministry of Culture and
Art in 1949. It considerably improved the financial capacity of our institution,
allowing it to launch the documentation of the achievements of currently practiced
plastic arts. The Museum's budget, financed by the Ministry, was large enough
to make purchases both directly from the artists and on the then quite limited
market of contemporary art. In the 1950s and 1960s direct purchases from the
authors predominated, whereas in the 1970s the purchases often took place in
the State Firm of Works of Art and Antiquities (DESA), existent in Cracow since
1950. In this way sets of works by, a. o., Adam Marczynski, Maciej Makarewicz
and Jonasz Stern could make their way into the Museum. A significant source of
the acquisition of novelties in the 1980s was the Interart Fair in Poznan, where
between 1985 and 1988 the Museum bought sets of works of, a. o., Andrzej
Bielawski, Wiesiaw Obrzydowski, Jacek Sempolinski, Jacek Sienicki and Lech
Okolow. In the 1980s infrequent purchases took place also in private galleries
(including paintings of Alfred Lenica at Alicja and Bozena Wahl's Art Gallery in
Warsaw and works of Krystyna Herling-Grudzinska at the Gallery "Inny Swiat
in Cracow).
At the close of the 1980s a far-reaching break in the purchases oc-
curred, caused by drastic cuts in budget means allotted to this end and by the
increase of prices of contemporary artistic works on a newborn free market. In
the 1990s and at the onset of the 21^ century only single purchases from artists
or in private galleries took place - a. o. works by members of the Group Eadnie
were bought at the Gallery 'Zderzak , whereas The Poznan Execution by Andrzej
Wroblewski came to the Museum owing to the Buchner Foundation.